"bigbrian" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I've just installed a game on my daughter's PC (The Sims), and it
> seems you have to have Administrator rights on the system to *play*
> the game, not just to install it.
>
> Is there any way around this? I don't want her account to be an
> Administrator account, and I don't really want to have to log her in
> as me just to play it
Sometimes the seemingly-unnecessary requirement for administrative
privileges to play certain games is addressed by an update to the game. In
other cases, it can often be worked around by adjusting crucial permissions
in the filesystem and/or registry. Some games fail to save settings, player
information, game progress etc for the same reason.
By default, the Program Files directory (usually "C:\Program Files") is
read-only to members of the Users group, and objects created under it
inherit the permissions. Similar applies to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software in
the registry.
One option is to rummage around and take an educated guess as to what is
causing the problem. In many cases, the problem disappears if you allow
Users full control over the game's registry key under HKLM\Software.
An alternative is to make use of tools such as REGMON and FILEMON from
http://www.sysinternals.com/ to find out what the game is doing. Both these
tools must be run by an Administrator - create a shortcut, examine its
properties and select "Run as different user". By doing this, you can run it
in the normal user's session.
Of course, all games are different and since I do not have the game it's
impossible for me to give specific advice. You could try your luck with
Google.
There are, unfortunately, a few games I have come across with no apparent
solution. In such cases, the best you can do is create a shortcut with "Run
as different user" selected so that it can be run from a normal user's
session, albeit after entering Adminitrator credentials.
HTH,
Alex
Similar Threads
Linear Mode
